The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1887-02-04
HOW TO TAKE A FoOT-BATH.

y
will tell you that in short time after 60
ing to bed their feet are as cold as ever;
and also that they are more liable to take
cold after such bath. All this is evidence
that the bath has not been properly taken.
Hot water dilates the capillaries, that is,
the fine, hair-like blood-yessels of the sur
face of the body, and the redness Of the
skin shows that an increased supply Of
blood bias been called there. The pores OF
the skin have been opened by the heat, and
the insensible perspiration is beng rapidly
thrown off. If the feet thus flushed with
blood. and with every pore wide open, be
exposed to the air, or to the cold sheets of
the bed the heat viii be rapidly carried
away.
Add to this the reaction that naturally
follows the increased flow of blood to the
feet, and you have another reason why
they are so cold after the hot bath
''Action and reaction are equal and in OPP
posite directions" Therefore as great as
has been the increased flow to the feet, so
great, when the reaction comes, will be the
current away from the feet, and the bath
becomes an evil instead of good. The
best time to take foot bath is not at
night, but in the middle of the forenoon,
when the vitality is at its highest points
| After immersing the feet for time in hot
water, lift them out Of the bath and dash
a dipper or two of cold water over them,
and rub briskly till dry. BY this sudden
application of cold you have closed the
pores, and left the skin in tonic condition;
you have also sent the blood from the sur
face with sneh force that it must Of neces-
sity in following the law of reaction, re-
| turn with force, thus tending to make the
feet ultimately warmer. When thoroughly
dry, draw on pair of clean, well-warmed
hose. put on your boots. and you are ready
for walk or ride without fear of taking
| cold
Rubbing the feet with little sweet oil
before putting on the stockings, is still
further preventive of cold.
| If you take the bath at bedtime, do not
omit the clean, well-warmed stockings, or,
| in place Of them, wrap the feet in flannel
in order to keep the heat that you have
gained.
| A foot-bath thus taken twice or three
times week will tend to improve the cir
eulation. and overcome tendency to cold
feet. Many women have cold feet con-
stantly. and are so accustomed to it that
they are not aware of it until after they
a 30 -, bod. then ,,arhaDc thav lie awake
hours before the feet are warm enough to
allow them to sleep. This constant cold
ness of the extremities is provocative of in
ternal difficulties known under the general
terms of Weaknesses and many a
woman would find her various aches dis
appearing if she were serupuleusly to avoid
having cold feet.
my mother will not allow me to warm
my feet by the fire. She says it will make
them tender"
II is certainly the best way to warm
them by exercise. but it is better to warm
them by the fire than not to have them
warm.
DR.. Thomson, of \. Y. City, whose au-
thority cannot be questioned, says; s'many
women suffer with cold feet on account of
the relationship between the pedal cireu-
lation and that of the pelvic viscera, and in
such cases it will be found that the long
continued use of foot-stove during the
day. and hot soap stone at night will do
more towards the re-establishing of the
disordered functions than any other line of
treatment. In order to encourage the pa
tients in keeping their feet warm, it is well
to inform them that by SO doing they will
relieve the backache from which they
suffer
Many women are accustomed to wear
thin cotton stockings and slippers even in
winter and it would be wiser to clothe the
feet warmly, than to continue them i'll their
thin dress and use the foot-stove. Ii
wooden stockings make the feet clammy
and cold, it is well TO wear thin pair of
cotton hose under them. Slippers should
be discarded in cold weather by all deli
cate persons German felt shoes can be
found in market that are very comfortable,
though not handsome.
The crocheteu or knitted ufeSslhS- sip
pers can be continued so as TO form boots
and they are exceedingly comfortable.
The whole body should be equally clad,
or if there be any difference it should be in
favor of the limbs, both upper and lower.
A very good exercise for warming the feet
| is to raise and lower the body a number of
times upon the toes. This also tends TO
| increase the size of the muscles which
make up the calf of the leg. A strict and
conseientiously regarded rule OF life should
be. never to go to bed with cold feet The
last half-hour before retiring should be de-
voted to getting the feet warm. Lay aside
books and study, for they tend to draw the
! blood TO the head and make the feet cold.
1 Rub the feet before the fire, and be sure
that Won have secured thorough, not
merely sup CRITICAL warming. Do this as
religiously as you put up your frizzes or
say your prayers. A few minutes thus
spent will secure sleep during hours that
would probably pass in wakefalness while
your feet were slowly getting warm after
\ You were in bed.